Bear Attack

[Kilted KT]

sounds like one of two things happened:

1. the campers somehow got between the mother and her cubs. no matter what kinds of firearms yo umay have, this is definitly a very ugly situation

or..


2. The bear was sick. Sick animals will do all kinds of things that are not normally of their nature.

There is a chance the bear just got hunger, or the kids were screwing with it...but more often than not a bear attack is a result of one of the option noted above.

oh..and a bottle of bear spray does very little when a ton of teeth and claws is charging at you.

[flairball]

There were some problems on Vancouver Island a few years ago. Seems some of the black bears started to figure out that the large number of tourists visiting the island could indeed be considered a food source. It is rare, but it does happen in some cases where the bears are exposed to people regularly. Of course exposure alone won't do it, there has to be other contributing factors.

The good news is that bear season is now open in several states, and provinces. I'll be bear hunting in September here in Mass. This year I suspect I'll be wearing a kilt while hunting.

I've never had to use bear spray, but I've seen it used, and know people who have. It's effective. The problem is, the close range of the spray pretty much ensures that, should you have to use it, you'll be changing your undies afterwards, should you have not gone regimental that day.

[ozmeath]

I'm glad our bears are cute, dopey and a an eighth of the size here in Oz. I wonder if I can buy shark repellant though...that'd be handy.And If I lived much further north I'd want some anti-crocodile spray too, but they usually just call them shotguns.
You guys on the American continent are definately not on the end of the food chain.You be careful SB.

[GlassMan]

I saw an update about this on the news. It stated that a bear had been trapped in the area and immediately euthanized. Now they are scouring the area to make sure that they killed the right one.

I'm sorry, but isn't that rather like "shoot first, ask questions later?" What if that wasn't the right bear?

I really wish they'd given more information to explain why the animal was killed if they weren't certain. Was it acting vicious as well?

I sincerely hope that they are not just trapping any and all bears in the area and killing them until they feel certain that they've eliminated the threat.

[KiltedKnight]

This is one black bear that won't cause anyone any more trouble since it's one of my sporrans now, also the claw at the bottom was once part of a giant Kodiak. This is my second attempt at posting picks so bear with me....no pun intended...

http://files.tagworld.com/08c17d599e...4e76a9aa9.jpeg

Chris.

[kiltimabar]

This is one black bear that won't cause anyone any more trouble since it's one of my sporrans now, also the claw at the bottom was once part of a giant Kodiak. This is my second attempt at posting picks so bear with me....no pun intended...

http://files.tagworld.com/08c17d599e...4e76a9aa9.jpeg

Chris.

That sporran looks more like it came from the endangered Tusked Ewok...

but seriously, that bear attack was a tragedy, and certainly not usual behavior for a black bear, who normally avoid people except those they have trained to approach them with food and cameras. Kodiak or northern brown and grizzly bears though, are not timid or docile since they are used to being the biggest and meanest things in the valley. In that case if they think you are on the menu only a heavy rifle will save you--you will not frighten or outrun them.

There also has been a recent mountain lion attack on a child hiker. It leaped on the last one in line of a group, but was frightened away by the rest making noise and frantic gestures (didn't hear of a kilt being involved but it probably would have worked). Mountain lions also usually avoid people but burgeoning numbers of protected cougars and housing developments are leading to more frequent contacts.

[Southern Breeze]

I saw an update about this on the news. It stated that a bear had been trapped in the area and immediately euthanized. Now they are scouring the area to make sure that they killed the right one.

I'm sorry, but isn't that rather like "shoot first, ask questions later?" What if that wasn't the right bear?

I really wish they'd given more information to explain why the animal was killed if they weren't certain. Was it acting vicious as well?

I sincerely hope that they are not just trapping any and all bears in the area and killing them until they feel certain that they've eliminated the threat.

Here's what I've been told about killing the bears: They do this to preserve any forensic evidence. There also tends to be only a few bears in any one area.
This was not however bear normal behavior.

[The Supreme Canuck]

You guys on the American continent are definately not on the end of the food chain.You be careful SB.

Which is why, if I ever go camping up north, I'm bringing a rather sizeable rifle. I don't want to use it, but if a big, angry, furry thing is running at me, all bets are off.

[Riverkilt]

Sad, a 6yo child was killed, what a horrible way to die.

Have read lots on bear avoidance and bear defense. Wonder what would/could have happened if someone there was kilted and could have "unkilted" and swung their unwrapped kilt in full circles over their head.

Would it have driven off the bear?....or attracted the bear....

Need more research on bears and swinging kilts....could it be that hiking kilted would turn out to be the best bear defense?

Really....

I'm serious here....

I really am.

Ron

[Southern Breeze]

Sad, a 6yo child was killed, what a horrible way to die.

Have read lots on bear avoidance and bear defense. Wonder what would/could have happened if someone there was kilted and could have "unkilted" and swung their unwrapped kilt in full circles over their head.

Would it have driven off the bear?....or attracted the bear....

Need more research on bears and swinging kilts....could it be that hiking kilted would turn out to be the best bear defense?

Really....

I'm serious here....

I really am.

Ron

Maybe Andrew can research this while on his upcoming hike.

In the light of this attack I've gotten nervous about bears. I've encounterd several and by the time I knew they were there they were headed the other way.